Asphaltum (bitumen) production in everyday life on the California Channel Islands

• I describe and analyze an asphaltum production industry on San Nicolas Island, CA.
• Intrasite analysis shows asphaltum was used for a variety of everyday purposes.
• Gender division of labor and mixing of sacred and profane spaces are represented.
• Islanders had technological traditions that need not rely on mainland groups.
• This multidisciplinary approach can be applied to regions across the globe.

Sequential models can be used to connect raw material culture to broader social, economic, and religious processes. The present study explores an asphaltum (bitumen) production sequence at Tule Creek Village, CA-SNI-25, a large Late Holocene site on San Nicolas Island, California. Three conclusions have been drawn from this investigation: (1) island populations used asphaltum for a variety of activities that supported everyday needs, (2) male and female tasks were spatially unsegregated, and (3) everyday asphaltum use appears in the same space as ceremonial activities, suggesting spiritual and secular realms were intricately linked. The asphaltum production sequence model built and applied here can be used to address a variety of broad anthropological questions and is applicable in regions that contain naturally occurring seeps across the globe.